LPW International Heavyweight Championship
The Lords of Pain Wrestling (LPW) International Heavyweight Championship is a professional e-wrestling championship. The title is the highest ranked championship on the Pyromania brand of Lords of Pain Wrestling. In the first four years of the championship's existence, the reigning champion was never defeated for the championship in the ring. Coincidentally, all three champions were stripped of the title in controversial fashion at some point in time. Because of this strange occurence, the title gained a reputation as being cursed for those who held it. History In 2004, due to the rapid success of the Psychotic Wrestling Alliance, management decided to split the rosters into separate brands, respectively naming their brands Schizophrenia (now known as Insanity) and Pyromania. The PWA World Heavyweight Championship stayed on the flagship Schizophrenia brand, while the upstart Pyromania brand created their own World championship, naming it the PWA International Heavyweight Championship (commonly referred to as IHC for short). Stone At the first Altered Reality, the newly created PWA International Heavyweight Championship was up for grabs in a triple threat ladder match between Stone, Son of Repoman, and Sashaband. The match is infamous for its ending when all three men stood on three different ladders stretching for the title, then all three men crashing down to the ground at once. As the three competitors laid under the ladders, Stone rose out of the rubble with the title in hand to become the first champion. After a full year defending the International Heavyweight Championship, Stone battled SoL (Schizophrenia's World Heavyweight Champion) at Altered Reality II in the inaugural Martinez Cup match to decide the promotion's top world champion. SoL went on to win the Martinez Cup, while Stone exited the company and was consequently stripped of the title, leaving Pyromania without a champion. Jaro At Rumble in the Bronx, an eight-man Rising Stars Tournament was held to crown the new International Heavyweight Champion. In the finals, a popular rookie named Jaro defeated Son of Repoman to win the title and lit a new spark for the fledging Pyromania brand. During Jaro's reign, Pyromania reached new competitive heights. Jaro's reign was famous for the feuds he took part in, first defeating cYnical at Capital Punishment, then retaining over Robb Larsen after stealing his fiance. Days before Jaro was ready to challenge for the second-ever Martinez Cup at Altered Reality III, he was controversially fired from the promotion and consequently stripped of his title after holding it for a full year. With both of its International Heavyweight Champions having been stripped during Altered Reality, the title gained a reputation as being cursed. D. Hammond Samuels with the International Championship.]] After Jaro's shocking dismissal, the PWA's flagship pay-per-view, Altered Reality III, was without a Martinez Cup main event. Just days before the event was to take place, the decision was made by PWA management to award the title to D. Hammond Samuels (who had recently lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Pen at Schizos Wild). Despite losing to Pen for a second time in the Martinez Cup match, Samuels brought back a competitive fire to the title, even after his controversial way of "winning" the title. Because of this, Samuels declared himself as the International Heavyweight Non-Champion, often carrying the title belt in a briefcase. In April of 2007, due to a continuing dispute among PWA management, the decision was made to separate the PWA name from the promotion and was immediately renamed to Lords of Pain Wrestling (while Pyromania was renamed to Inferno). The IHC would be renamed the LPW International Heavyweight Championship. At Inferno 10.3: Night of Champions during their main event build-up for the upcoming Sacrament pay-per-view, Samuels and Drew "Headbanger" Michaels were ordered by Inferno General Manager Spectre to not touch each other or they would be stripped of their championship opportunities. But during Headbanger's United States Championship title defense in an Unlucky Seven TLC Match, Samuels interfered by pushing Headbanger off a ladder to cost him the U.S. title (but Samuels never actually touched him). As a result of the interference, Spectre stripped Samuels of the title that night and announced that he would award the title to Headbanger. At the next Inferno 10.4, Spectre presented Headbanger with the championship, but Headbanger refused to accept the title in such controversial fashion. Things only escalated when Samuels interrupted the presentation and challenged the ruling through a series of technical loopholes by the aid of his legal advisor. Reluctantly, Spectre reinstated Samuels as International Heavyweight Champion. Despite a strong effort by Michaels, Samuels retained the title at Sacrament by beating Michaels in a 60-minute Iron Man Match. Drew Michaels Drew Michaels defeated D. Hammond Samuels in a Tijuana Cage Fight at the Dead Reckoning pay-per-view in Los Angeles, California on February 12, 2008. The victory ended Samuels' 17-month reign as champion. Reigns :Main article: List of LPW International Heavyweight Champions *The LPW International Heavyweight Championship was the second world championship introduced into LPW at the inaugural Altered Reality, which then was called the Psychotic Wrestling Alliance (PWA). *The inaugural champion was Stone. *Since introduced, there have been 11 champions. *No e-wrestler has held the title on multiple reigns. *The longest reigning champion was Tromboner Man who won the championship on LPW Pyromania 18.1, then held the title 751 days. *The shortest reigning champion was White Falcon who officially held the title for 26 days. *The most title defenses belongs to D. Hammond Samuels and Tromboner Man who each had seven successful title defenses. *Drew Michaels and Tromboner Man are the only LPW International Heavyweight Champions to have won the Martinez Cup against the LPW World Heavyweight Champion in Altered Reality history, with Michaels winning at Altered Reality IV and Tromboner Man winning at Altered Reality VI. *The most represented nationality of champions is the United States of America with seven (Stone, D. Hammond Samuels, Drew Michaels, NPD, Mass Chaos, Ken Ryans, and Eddie B.). Australia trails next with two (Styxx and Tromboner Man) followed by Canada (Jaro) and Italy (White Falcon) with one. Current champion The current champion is Al, who defeated Eddie B. for the title at LPW SuperCycle 23.2 on June 2, 2014. See also *LPW International Heavyweight Championship gallery *LPW World Heavyweight Championship External links *The History of Pyromania Category:Championships